Chiropractic treatment might help in dealing with chronic headaches

Chiropractic treatment might help in dealing with chronic headaches
October 2, 2007
by Michelle Greenspan, Guest Columnist
Citizen Times

Young children are supposed to be healthy, but not all kids are that lucky.
When I met Tessa, she was 9 years old, a beautiful, bright young girl. Underneath the smiling exterior was a child who suffered with severe, disabling, headaches due to Chiari syndrome.
Simply put, this is a condition in which the brain stem gets choked by the head sliding too far down onto the upper neck. One medical treatment option is cutting a bigger hole in the base of the skull to take the pressure off the upper spinal cord and brain stem.
Helping Tessa avoid surgery was a main concern of mine.
Tessa was first brought to me by her parents. Her stepfather also had terrible headaches and was referred to me by his medical doctor.
Dad did very well, and his symptoms were completely gone after chiropractic treatment. So, he and his wife wondered if I might be able to help little Tessa.
Part of my postgraduate training included certification in a technique called Cox flexion distraction.
This can be done in the neck or the lower back region. It involves gently stretching (distracting) the skull away from the cervical spine (neck region). This technique is especially good for treatment of cervical and lumbar disc conditions.
I used the technique with Tessa and within one treatment, her symptoms dramatically decreased. After two weeks of care, her pain virtually cleared out.
Tessa is able to live a normal life thanks to
chiropractic care. Because of her congenital defect, she does require a 2-minute treatment one to two times per month, but that is a small price to pay for a healthy life.
Do you know someone suffering with severe headaches and migraines?
Perhaps their problem is due to pressure on their nervous system.
Misaligned vertebrae in the neck region can produce significant irritation to the nerves that exit between the bones, resulting in muscle spasms, ear, nose and throat problems and many types of headaches.
If you are suffering with any of these symptoms, it may be time to try chiropractic.
This is the opinion of Michelle Greenspan, a doctor of chiropractic and a certified chiropractic extremity practitioner. She can be reached at 252-1882 or www.greenspanchiro.com.